Frustration

365.17 Frustration, originally uploaded by headcase.

I getting so frustrated with myself lately. I have barely given photography and lighting (more so lighting) the time or attention it deserves. I feel like at the rate I’m going, I’m never going to “get it”. I’m also totally frustrated with the poor-man’s setup I’ve got going. Sheets and tablecloths will only get me so far, and there are precious few places for me to take a picture that doesn’t reveal the barely contained toy chaos that seems to sprout in every room in the house.

Not to mention how much I’m disliking my portraits lately. I have such a serious expression in most of them because I think I look like a total goober when I smile. That and the camera is unforgiving. Some of my photos reveal the subtle signs of aging that I never noticed. The gray hairs, the crow’s feet starting to appear. It’s giving my photoshop chops a workout. Usually I fart around trying to fix a few things and then usually scrap that and go with the original, even though I’m not entirely pleased with the dark circles (which I can’t seem to fix with makeup OR photoshop). Seriously, I think I’m going to be doing a few DIY projects in the next week or so, just so I have an easier time working with the single strobe I own. I want to put some foam-core on one side for fill, however I have no where to put it and nothing to hold it. It’s cramping my already limited options.

I’m starting a list of possible photo ideas (not just self-portrait either).  Some may pan out, some may not, but I won’t know until I try.  I need to start exploring outside of my comfort zone.  Any tips or advice anyone can share as to how I can do that?

Self-portrait for the day

Sort of a strange title considering I don’t post a self-portrait every day.  I took this in the foyer.  I figured it was time for a daytime shot with something other than a black background behind me.

Strobist: Ambient light coming in from rear camera left. Flash at 1/4 power through softbox (ok, really it’s my macro studio box over the flash) from camera right.

Strength

Here’s my self-portrait for the day. I’m feeling especially strong and good about myself after a fantastic lesson in tae kwon do.

Strobist: One Vivitar 285HV fired from directly above at 1/16 power. I tried to soften it by shooting it through a few layers of tracing paper. I really need to get a softbox and/or white umbrella, ya think? Sent through PS to black out the background.

Snooty

Given that I managed to get back into the 365days thing, I thought I would do a more arty type self-portrait.

I’m sitting on the floor with black foam-core behind me. I have one Vivitar 385HV strobe shooting at 1/16 power through a snoot a bit in front of and to the right of the camera, mounted about 4.5 feet high. I did some PS work to get rid of blemishes and try to tone down the shine. I tried using a reflector to bounce light back at me to give me some separation from the background, but either I couldn’t get the angle right, or I really need another light/flash in order to accomplish this.

Woo Hoo!

I got my strobist gear and I’m already hooked! Here are the two best results from shooting today:

Unfortunately, I managed to amputate a toe on the first one, and I think the lighting works better on the second one. If I could have the first one better composed and with the lighting of the second, I would be thrilled. Overall, I’m very happy with the results and can’t wait to see what I can do with this new gear and information.

Here’s the lighting info: One Vivitar 285HV set at 1/16th power, ceiling height about 6 feet in front and roughly 30 degrees to my left (to the right of the camera). Reflector on my right but not sure it was positioned correctly to bounce enough light back. I wish I had more time to play today, but alas, the in-laws are coming for dinner, so the house must be attended to.

I’ve got it bad

The last few days have been a frenzy of soaking up knowledge about photography. At times like these my obsessive nature comes out and I get that lazer-beam focus on whatever I’m learning about, and it’s easy to exclude nearly everything else, including eating. I keep checking on when my little softbox kit is getting here and my strobist equipment. I have a feeling that I’ll be adding a second (and a third) strobe in no time.

Unfortunately, I’m starting to realize the utter lack of space I have for this little hobby of mine. Taking pictures of anything larger than a breadbox means a lot of furniture moving (and then returning to its place). Efficient it isn’t, but it gets the job done. I’m fairly certain I’m going to have to make a backdrop stand soon as well. The color of our walls is an earthy green-taupe color. Meaning I have to constantly correct for the resulting pallor.

Self-Portrait

Tried playing around with lighting a bit yesterday and took this self-portrait:

I’m not thrilled with it, in fact I can point out several things wrong with it (and the model, but that’s another story). I wasn’t using any fancy equipment, in fact it was the brightest room in the house (which means that it wasn’t bright at all, even though the sun was out) and it was a poor-man’s lighting system using a desk lamp and an aluminum baking pan as a reflector. I ordered mini-studio kit from Amazon and a Strobist kit from MPEX, so hopefully the next attempt won’t be so frustrating.